Driving a golf ball with power and accuracy has been the subject of intense study for more than a century. The objective is simple to define—drive the ball a great distance at a distant target: the green. The coordinated interaction of the legs, trunk and arms to maximize this objective is very complicated.
Devices and training methods have been disclosed that are directed toward this objective. For example a breakaway golf club is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,745, U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,035, U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,396, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,568. A common feature of these patents is that, when the golfer swings the club incorrectly, the lower section of the golf shaft swings out of alignment with the upper section. However training with these devices does not teach the golfer the specific mistakes in his swing that are limiting his performance.
To understand the principles of body mechanics involved in maximizing the delivery of power and accuracy to a golf swing, it is useful to consider the mechanics of snapping a bull whip. The bull whip resembles an elongated array of levers (i.e., segments of the whip) beginning with a first lever being the wrist holding the handle of the whip. When the wrist is rotated initially to generate momentum in each whip segment, the segment closest to the wrist is the first to rotate to a horizontal orientation followed by the second segment and remaining segments rotating to the horizontal orientation in order. Each segment transfers its momentum as angular momentum to the next segment with the result that the last segment rotates so fast that it generates a vacuum in the air. The collapsing vacuum is the loud “crack” that is heard when the user “cracks” the whip.
Like any physical activity involving throwing, batting or stroking, the golfer's body performs like a system of connected levers—hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists connected to the end lever—the golf club.
There can be a number of reasons why the golfer does not “swing properly” thereby limiting his driving power and accuracy. These reasons include:
restricting the extent of the back swing;
meeting the ball at a point in the swing where the head of the club has not reached or has surpassed full angular momentum;
shifting one or both legs so as to reduce power of the swing.
In view of the complexity of the problem, it is useful to introduce into the training regimen, exercises to guide the athlete to move all parts of his body in the most efficient manner. This object includes a signal of the exact mistake made in executing the swing.